Chapter 10 Juliet
JULIET
The Dionysus Lounge is exactly how I remember it. Which isn’t surprising because it’s only been a few weeks since I was last here.
Lex parks in the back lot, but instead of taking the back door into the guts of the building, he and Gio lead me around to the front double doors.
I would have sat in the SUV and stayed until they were done doing whatever they came here to do were it not for Gio threatening to handcuff me to him the entire time we’re here. I won’t put it past the crazy asshole.
“Virgin mojito,” Gio orders for me as we take our seats in one of the circle booths.
“Anything for you, handsome?” the waitress says, smiling at him as she tucks a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. I narrow my gaze on her. I’ve never seen her before. She must be new.
“I’m good,” Gio says, waving her off.
A muscle tics beneath my jaw as I glare at the woman. Handsome? Who the fuck does she think she’s calling handsome when I’m sitting right here?
After the waitress leaves, Gio snickers and I whip around to let him feel the heat of my glare. “What’s so fucking funny?” I demand.
He grins back at me before sliding closer across the bench seat. “You, Prep Girl.” His arm moves around my shoulders and he tugs me close. I turn my head away and grit my teeth.
“Fuck you.”
No sooner have the words left my lips than I’m gasping as Gio nuzzles into the side of my neck and something wet sneaks out and licks up my throat. Whirling towards him, I slap a hand to my skin and glare.
“What the fuck, Gio?” I hiss, glancing around to make sure no one had witnessed it.
Gio has no shame, though, and he sidles closer, gripping my hips and pulling me into his lap. “Calm down, Prep Girl,” he says, nuzzling against the back of my neck now instead of the side. He sweeps my hair out of the way and presses a kiss to my nape. “These booths are private.”
“Not that private.” While it’s true that the booth walls are a bit taller than what you’d normally find in a restaurant, there’s still a clear view over the top of them and out of the opening to the table across from us. I growl and grab one of his wandering hands on my thighs and dig my nails in.
“We’re still in the center of the damn club and we can see the other tables, which means they can see us.”
“G, don’t push her,” Lex says, voice quiet.
In response, Gio groans and his wandering hands go slack against my skin. He sets his chin on my shoulder, staring over it to where Lex sits on the other side of the short table.
“I’m horny,” he whines. “I’m not used to going this long without sex and you’ve been hogging her at night.”
Twisting my head so I can glare at him, “You are such a manwhore,” I inform Gio. “I should’ve had you tested before we fucked.”
“Oh, don’t worry.” Gio grins back at me. “Lex had us all tested.”
“What?” I turn to look at Lex, who’s now looking very interested in the flat surface of the table. “Lex?”
I narrow my eyes when all he does is shrug and sink back against the booth.
The moment I open my mouth to demand an answer, the waitress returns.
She plunks the virgin mojito down on the table between us before turning her attention to where Gio was originally sitting.
I press my lips together in amusement when she realizes where he is now.
“They’re fine,” I tell her.
She bobs her head and disappears towards the bar without another word. I watch her go, waiting until she’s out of earshot before I lean forward and grab the drink.
“Why a virgin?” I ask, taking a sip of the minty soda water. “You were drinking the last time you came here, weren’t you?”
Gio shrugs and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me back more fully against his chest. “Yeah, but we have fake IDs. Do you?”
I grimace. “No.” Good fake IDs are expensive and the one I did have was left behind in the house when the cops seized all of my parents’ assets.
“Virgin drinks it is, then,” Gio says. “Besides, we shouldn’t be drinking if we’re working today.”
“This is you working?” I lean against him, turning my face in his direction and arching a brow.
He presses a chaste kiss to my mouth so quickly that I barely feel the heat of his lips on mine before they’re already gone. “You can’t tell?”
“We’re collecting payments,” Lex says, drawing my attention around to him once more.
“Oh, right.” I stir my drink, staring into the bubbly liquid and crushing one of the mint leaves inside with the end of my straw. “I suppose that explains how he was able to threaten Ma-Ri to get rid of me.”
Gio’s arms tighten and when he speaks again, the playful teasing tone is gone. “Sorry, Prep Girl.”
I roll my eyes and plop my glass back down on the table before taking one of his hands and pulling it off my waist. I slide from his lap and onto the cushioned seat of the booth. “Oh, hush,” I tell him. “We both know you aren’t any more responsible for your shitty dad than I am for mine.”
He turns his hand over, weaving his fingers through mine before lifting them to his mouth.
I watch, rapt and caught in his gaze, as Gio’s mouth opens and he presses a new kiss to my knuckles.
Then, he turns my hand over, opens his mouth, and licks a path straight up the center of my palm.
Just like he would if he were licking other parts of my anatomy. A shiver moves through me.
“Horndog,” I accuse lightly.
His grin is almost infectious. “Takes one to know one,” he replies easily enough.
I open my mouth to respond, but never get the chance. “You boys cheating on that girl now?” Ma-Ri’s smoky voice interrupts the quiet moment between us and I stiffen automatically.
Something close to embarrassment, or maybe even guilt, crawls through me. I like Ma-Ri, but I still blamed her for firing me. My anger didn’t fade even when I understood why she felt like she had no other choice. Her words, however, have me turning in her direction, a frown on my lips.
The tiny woman stands at the mouth of the booth, her short, cropped hair swept away from her forehead today. The long cigarette holder she wields like a weapon is positioned between two fingers as she glares from Lex to Gio. Then her eyes fall on me and she blinks as if surprised.
“No,” she finally mutters. “I suppose not.”
Was she talking about me, then? I was the girl they were cheating on? With… me?
My lips curve against my will as a smile threatens to break free.
“We don’t cheat,” Gio says, releasing my hand to slide to the end of the booth seat while Lex follows on the other. “But it’s good to know you’d be disapproving if you ever caught us.”
Ma-Ri hums in the back of her throat, her attention still locked on me for a moment longer before she pulls her gaze away as Gio and Lex stand on either side of her.
Putting her cigarette to her lips, the cherry red end glows bright and then dims when she releases it. A stream of smoke fills the air.
“Come on back then,” she says. “I’ve got the payment.”
I move towards the edge, intending to follow, only to be stopped as Lex puts out a hand. “Sorry, baby, you’ve got to stay here.”
“What?” He can’t be serious. Ma-Ri shakes her head and moves off, Gio trailing behind her.
Lex’s only response is another “Sorry” before he turns and follows behind them. I sag back against the seat, gaping after them as Gio and Lex disappear down the back hall leading towards Ma-Ri’s office and the locker rooms.
With an annoyed huff, I snatch up the mojito and take a long gulp, really wishing it had alcohol in it.
I sit and ponder my life choices as I watch middle-aged man after middle-aged man walk into the club.
A few that glance over see me sitting alone in a booth and do a double take.
On the off chance any assume that I’m a host—not that they’d get that from the jeans and oversized hoodie I’m currently sporting—I glare at them as they pass me.
A half hour passes and my first drink is long gone.
The waitress that had approached the table when Lex and Gio had been here stands at the bar, purposefully ignoring me.
I don’t blame her. The second she gets close, I’m liable to sit her down and carefully explain what will happen to her if she ever calls one of my men “handsome” again.
My attention keeps sliding to the back hallway. It doesn’t take this long just to pick up a payment, does it? I tighten all over as another thought occurs to me. They wouldn’t try to convince Ma-Ri to hire me back while I’m sitting out here, would they?
My foot starts tapping and the seconds on the clock tick by slower than ever before.
I’m almost relieved when a body slides into the booth next to me. Half expecting one of the male guests, I turn, ready for the distraction and to put him in his place when I see who it actually is.
“Margo?” I blink at the woman who’d been one of the top hosts when I’d been working here.
“I’ll make this quick,” she says shortly. Margo slides closer, the silken fabric of her dress shining a bit too bright even under the dim lights to be anything but synthetic.
I arch a brow. “Make what quick?”
Margo glances over the top of one of the booth walls before turning back to me and leaning in. “My boyfriend works for Darrio Vargas,” she whispers. “And I swear, if you rat me out, I’ll make sure he tracks you down and—”
“Save the threats, Margo,” I snap, but scoot closer regardless. “I don’t snitch.”
Her lips pucker up like she now wants to withhold whatever information she came to give me.
I level her with a look and wait. For all that Margo is a beautiful woman—smooth, unblemished skin, big round eyes, and a body that a model would kill for—she’s not really frightening.
I assume that’s why she tried to use the threat her boyfriend could present to me rather than suggesting she might come after me herself.